Podolyak: Ukraine will receive NATO invite next year if not at Vilnius summit

If Ukraine does not receive an invitation to join NATO at the ongoing summit in Vilnius, it will get it at the Washington summit next year, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukraine's Presidential Office, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on July 11.

"There is a 100% probability of this. Why? Because I think, by this time, Russia will finally lose its subjectivity and cease to exist as a country that can wage wars," Podolyak said, adding that Ukraine should win the war by 2024.

"The victorious country will be a key member of NATO, taking into account the experience, taking into account the size of the army that will be in Ukraine."

Kyiv applied for a fast-tracked NATO membership in September 2022. The country hopes for a strong signal on its entry into the Alliance at the Vilnius summit on July 11-12. According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Kyiv should be able to skip the Membership Action Plan on its path to accession.

However, even this procedure would still oblige Ukraine to carry out reforms and would not set any time frame for Ukraine's accession. The U.S. and Germany are expected to oppose a decisive invitation for Kyiv at the summit, citing the need for reforms and the ongoing Russian aggression.